film development?

Question

Hey, I was needing some help with developing film. I remember that when I had developed film earlier, all I used was D-76, a stop bath, fixer, hypo clear and a wash. But I do not know what kind of film I was using, except that it was black and white.
I was looking at film, and can't seem to find how exactly to develop it. It is at: http://www.ritzcamera.com/product/121390132.htm
Thanks for any help.

Answer 1

Pretty much any B&W developer will develop any B&W film. D-76 is a good one. You can check the film data sheet, or the developer data sheet.

I would guess you were probably using Kodak Plus-X or Kodak Tri-X film. If you want to go to a website that give detailed information about film and developing, go to either Kodak or Ilford.

One word of advice, I would recommend you not use a stop bath with film, just plain water will stop the developing process.

Answer 2

The film you linked to (Tri-X pan) would be a good start. Ilford HP-5 plus is probably even a little more forgiving.

I even skip the stop bath and rinse the film two or three times with water after development. Using stop bath is supposed to lengthen your fixer's life span, but for me, the less chemicals I use, the better (I still use a stop bath for prints, though). The type of film you use does not make a big difference, as long as it's traditional black and white film (not C-41 or E-6 process). The only thing that changes is the development time, which you need to experiment with anyway, but usually there is a recommendation on the box of the film, which gets you in the ball park, then you can refine it for yourself.

The process is basically develop (agitate every minute or so, whatever works), stop (agitate vigorously), fix (agitate as during development), and wash (I fill the tank up with water, invert 5 times, dump, fill up, invert 10 times, dump, fill up, invert 20 times, dump). You can use hypo clearing agent before washing, but I never did, and never had a problem. You can also put photo flo in your final rinse, which will prevent any drying marks to form. I've never had any drying marks with medium format film, but 35mm was a pain, I remember.

Answer 3

aside from the call to not use stopbath I see no problem with the answers you are getting. Stopbath is an acid which neutralizes the developer a base. If you develop consistently that little time can make a difference in the outcome of your negatives. Using hypo clearing agent will significantly reduce your washing time while maintaining the archivial quality of your negatives. Be consistent in your processing whatever you do then changes in the outcome wont be as much of a mystery. Time Temperature and agitation while not as critical in b&w as in color are still important if you want consistent results.

Answer 4

Usually inside the film box there will be instructions for developing. Tri-X will work fine with D-76 developer, you'll just need to check the inside of the box when you get the film to see how long to develop it for.

Answer 5

The directions are printed inside the box the film comes in. You might like the Analog Photography Users Group (apug.org).

Of course, you could just do a web search for kodak.com - I just did and found this:

kodak.com/global/en/professional/support/techPubs

Why is a 60 year old man sitting here doing all this for you?